By Patricia Bogumil
Thanksgiving is over. Christmas is coming. In-between is that short period of time for sending out the annual batch of greeting cards.
This year, Miller-Reesman Funeral Home invites people from around the area to join in a state and national “Holiday Mail for Heroes” project that sends cards to troops serving overseas.
• Locally, the cards can be mailed to, or dropped off without postage at, the Miller-Reesman location at 620 15th Ave., Union Grove.
Owners Glen and Rebecca Miller will then pay to bulk-mail them out to the American Red Cross national collection center (see below), from which the cards will be sent overseas.
The cards must be received at the Miller-Reesman Funeral Home by Friday, Dec. 6. Cards that arrive later will be distributed to veterans who live at the Wisconsin Veterans Home in Union Grove, said Rebecca Miller.
• The American Red Cross is accepting “Holiday Mail for Heroes” cards from now through Friday, Dec. 6.
Mail cards to: Holiday Mail for Heroes, P.O. Box 5456, Capitol Heights, MD 20791-5456.All mail must be postmarked by Dec. 6.
Since the program began in 2006, the Red Cross has distributed more than 6.5 million cards. The organization collected more than 35,000 in Wisconsin last year alone.
Kathleen Marschman, the deputy secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs talks of the power of a service member receiving a simple note when serving far from the comforts of home and family.
“In recent years, I’ve worked closely with service members who were wounded or injured while serving in Iraq or Afghanistan, and I heard from them of their appreciation of being remembered and receiving notes and cards and messages,” she said in a media release.
“Simple messages speak volumes to these service members. The messages we send today can help ease the distance and separation that service people feel as they work on our behalf or recover from injuries or illness because of their service.”
Here are some guidelines provided by the American Red Cross:
• All cards should be signed and use a generic salutation such as “Dear Service Member.” Cards addressed to specific individuals cannot be delivered through this program.
• Personal messages written on the cards are encouraged and can provide a welcome “touch of home” for the troops during the holiday season.
• Only cards will be accepted in the “Holiday Mail for Heroes” program. Do not send or include letters.
• Do not include email, phone numbers or home addresses on the cards: the program is not meant to foster pen pal relationships.
• Do not include inserts of any kind, including photos; these items will be removed during the reviewing process.
• Do not send cards with glitter or use loose glitter, as glitter can aggravate health issues of ill and injured service members.
• If mailing a large quantity of cards, please bundle them and place them in large mailing envelopes or flat-rate postal shipping boxes.
Each card does not need its own envelope, as envelopes will be removed from all cards before distribution.
• Every card received will be screened for hazardous materials and then reviewed by Red Cross volunteers.
For more information on the local program, contact the Millers at (262) 878-2500.
For more information on the national program, visit online at www.redcross.org
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